CoG chair Josephat Nanok.[Photo/the-star.co.ke]
Council of Governors (CoG) chair Josphat Nanok has fired a salvo at his colleagues for perpetrating graft at the counties. In a hard-hitting speech, the Turkana governor told his colleagues they must stop the culture of “it’s our time to eat” and deliver services to the people.
Nanok spoke just as President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday signed into law the County Allocation of Revenue (Amendment) Bill, paving way for the National Treasury to immediately disburse the first tranche of Sh77 billion to the counties.
As if prompted by the presidential function to release funds to counties, Nanok was quick to say graft has marred services in many counties. He was speaking in Nyeri where he opened the sixth annual Conference for Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices chaired by Agnes Odhiambo where he also urged the National Treasury to disburse county funds in good time and, particularly, not later than the 15th day of every month.
The theme of the conference is ‘Five Years of Devolution: The Gains, Challenges and Lessons Learnt’. Nanok, who was flanked by host Governor Mutahi Kahiga, admitted that corruption has tainted the image of county administrations, to the extent that many citizens doubt their ability to deliver.
“If there is one thing that has tainted the image of counties is corruption. Majority of Kenyans are pessimistic that we use our funds prudently and now that the counties have gazetted their leadership and integrity courts, corruption must be dealt with firmly, this our-time-to-eat culture in the counties must come to an end,’’ said Nanok.
The new Act signed by the President clearly sets out the conditional allocations to county governments ranging from loans and grants and subsequently aligning the County Allocation of Revenue Act, 2017, to the provisions of the Division of Revenue Act, 2017.